Holla Back NYC empowers New Yorkers to Holla Back at street harassers. Whether you're commuting, lunching, partying, dancing, walking, chilling, drinking, or sunning, you have the right to feel safe, confident, and sexy, without being the object of some turd's fantasy. So stop walkin' on and Holla Back:
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Thursday, June 03, 2010

NO is a full sentence.

Ugh... lately I've been getting harassed so much that it's become really tiring. Every day for the past week or two I've had some pervert say something gross to me or do something creepy. I'm very independent and like to be on my own a lot, but since I'm a young (20) female, I feel like that makes me a prime target for harassment. To sum up the creepiest people:

About two weeks ago I was waiting for a train in a very corporate part of the city. I was standing near another girl, and then a very professional looking man came and stood between the two of us. I wrongly assumed he wouldn't be creepy because of the way he was dressed. He started pacing back and forth between the two of us, and I also noticed him staring at me. When we got on the train he took a seat, and the girl and I stood across from each other in opposite doorways. He was VERY obviously looking at her and when she darted her head in his direction he quickly looked away. Then she went to a different part of the train, probably because he was freaking her out. Then he turned his attention to me. Okay, whatever, he's looking at me. Creepy, but I can deal with it. BUT THEN he whipped out his phone and REALLY OBVIOUSLY took a picture of me. I got off at the next stop. Now this creepy asshole has a picture of me and probably jerked off to it. Ugh.

A few days ago I was at Columbus Circle sitting at the fountain. For awhile I noticed that this guy was sitting next to me, not doing anything in particular. But a lot of people were sitting at the fountain so I didn't think much of it. I was on the phone with someone for a long time, and right when I hung up he tried to start a conversation with me but I could tell he was trying something so I got up and left. As I'm walking away, listening to my music, I notice the same guy walking behind me. He was walking behind me for a few minutes and I could tell he was looking at me... I couldn't believe he was actually following me. He started asking me questions like my name and what I'm doing in the city. I know I shouldn't have responded to him and should have just told him to fuck off, but I made up some bullshit and then when I quickly took an unexpected turn he finally left me alone.

Finally, today I was once again at Columbus Circle at the fountain (yeah, maybe I should just stop going there) taking pictures. This guy was trying to talk to me, saying things like "hey, hey girl. Hey, hey, hey!" But I just kept ignoring him and calmly walked away like I couldn't hear him. As I was walking away though I saw the same guy following me. I thought maybe he just happened to be walking the same direction as me, but that definitely wasn't the case. At first I wanted to just try to ignore him but I knew it wouldn't work. He told me something like "Hey, I want to talk to you. You look really good." I told him twice that I didn't want to talk to him, but then he started describing the parts of me that looked good to him... gross. Then he asked me if I was single, and even when I said no he asked if I wanted to do something sexual with him (although he didn't put it so conservatively). I didn't show my rage because I didn't want him to know he was affecting me. So I just calmly told him "nope" and he turned around and walked the opposite direction.